Group 07 - Virtual Reality (Complete Friday, February 19)
What is Virtual Reality? Have you ever wanted to experience something that just seems impossible? Or you've wanted to explore a resort and beach before booking the trip? Virtual reality makes this possible. Many people think they have not experienced virtual reality, but they probably have without even knowing by playing an online video game or using a smartphone to travel through a city. Virtual Reality Site helps simplify the definition by breaking down the meaning of each word. ‘Virtual’ is near and reality is what we experience as human beings. So the term ‘virtual reality’ basically means ‘near-reality’ (Virtual Reality Site). Virtual reality allows a person to be immersed into a three-dimensional, computer generated environment while exploring and interacting. Virtual reality involves using our senses. Ultimately, virtual reality should cause telepresence.If the experience is effective, the person should not be aware of their real surroundings. Virtual reality can be achieved through headsets, glasses, or gloves. Virtual reality devices should track eye and head motions and adjust movements according to the users view. One of the most popular virtual reality device is the Oculus Rift. Examples of Virtual Reality headsets: Sony PlayStation VR HTC Vive Pre Samsung Gear VR Microsoft HoloLens History of Virtual Reality The idea of virtual reality actually originated back in the 1950's. Douglas Engelbart had a vision for what computers could be. At the time, they were large machines that would fill up a room, but Engelbart knew they could be more than that, with their digital display. These ideas spread, and the 1960's "laid the groundwork for personal computers, computer graphics, and later, the emergence of virtual reality" (VIRTUAL REALITY - History). One development that was crucial for the emergence of virtual reality was the flight simulator, which was created in the 1990's. This simulator provided for military training; a person would be provided with crucial training before they were put into the hazardous situation of learning how to fly a plane or drive a tank. The entertainment industry also contributed to the development of virtual reality in major ways. Special effects began to develop and improve during the 1970's, and during the 1980's is when video games became extremely popular (VIRTUAL REALITY - History). Companies such as NASA Ames, Mattel, and Nintendo, began to invest in this new technology. The introduction of high-performance computers in the 1980's was key to the development of virtual reality. The improved speed, memory, performance, and graphics led to more developments in the way of virtual reality and really opened the doors for new opportunities to grow in this field. Some more recent events have influenced the development of virtual reality. In 1993, SEGA attempted to release VR glasses, but there were technical difficulties and the project fell through. "The Matrix" film was a huge cultural influence (History of Virtual Reality) that resurfaced the idea of virtual reality, after many other companies failed to perfect it. Virtual Reality: History History of Virtual Reality The Rival: Augmented Reality Mashable.com does a good job of summarizing what augmented reality is when they say, "Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data" (Augmented Reality). This differs from virtual reality in many ways. Not only is augmented reality more accessible and more compatible, but it easily allows users to become interactive. VIrtual reality is booming right now, but is more focused on content; the user needs to be fully immersed in the experience, and the "real world" is put on hold. It's hard to use this practically, in every day life. Augmented reality is less intrusive, and enhances reality, rather than excluding it. Although there are still issues with execution in augmented reality, AR may win over virtual reality in the end. To read more, visit: Augmented Reality Augmented Reality Versus Virtual Reality: The Battle Is Real Pros and Cons of Virtual Reality Virtual Reality is becoming more alive and real by the day. It creates almost an exciting but possibly frightening environment for consumers.It has been able to tie how we want to see objects into putting in near reality with the beauty of technology. However, many people aren't aware of quite what the pros and cons of VR really is. Virtual Reality is full of greatness, it allows you to experience events and locations without actually being there. It allows you to see more detail then you ever could on a virtual tour on a website. You can interact with the location better then ever before. This industry is still growing and becoming more popular as we speak, as well as working on becoming less expensive for the average consumer. Now, the cons of Virtual Reality is something anyone even interested in the product must take into mind. The biggest con facing Virtual Reality is the real cost. The cost can range anywhere from $600-$1,500. As much as VR is capable of it is almost frightening what it could cause. The technology is so new yet that we don't accurately know what kind of possible damage it could do to our eyes. Also users of VR could become less discouraged in actual real life due to a sense of being unknown and could potentially act in a way that would be socially unacceptable. Future of Virtual Reality People have experienced virtual reality mainly in the gaming industry, but it will be growing into the entertainment, sports, and social networking world in the next year. 2016 is the year when virtual reality will be known and used more. Virtual reality headsets is the kickstart of this process, as Oculus Rift will be available to buy on March 18, 2016. Munster estimates that the VR headset market will grow to $62 billion in 2025 and sees a market for live sporting events, concerts, education, adult content, social experiences, movies and gaming reaching $5.4 billion in that same time frame (Taylor, Harriet). In the future, virtual reality will allow sport fans to broadcast the sporting event. Road to VR declared it “an exciting way to watch the game,” because it was “a much more realistic POV of view than you would get watching it on a traditional monitor” (The Future of Virtual Reality Lies Beyond Gaming). Munster believes when it comes to virtual reality, Google, Apple and Facebook are the companies who are likely to be in charge (Taylor, Harriet). The big question is how will Facebook use Oculus Rift to social network through virtual reality. When Mark Zuckerberg describes his intentions, “imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.” An example would be “studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face" (The Future of Virtual Reality Lies Beyond Gaming). There are ways that virtual reality will change the way interact and consume our content. News, retail, and fashion will be experienced differently. Instead of reading the news online or in print, we might be put into the location and action of the event as if we were there. Buying a home will become easier when we can tour the interested home with virtual reality glasses. Jeremy Bailenson predicts virtual reality will evolve where a person can "jack-in" their brains straight into the virtual environment. He believes that in 50 to 100 years, there could be a brain-machine interface that taps into the nervous system (Konnikova, Maria). Virtual reality could become similar to the concept of singularity, "a way for our minds to separate from our bodies and, uploaded into a digital realm, live on even as our physical selves grow old and die," described by Ray Kurzweil, a futurist and Google engineer (Konnikova, Maria). Resources "Augmented Reality." Mashable. Freebase, CC-BY (2016). Retrieved from http://mashable.com/category/augmented-reality/. Daniel Howley. 2016 "The Real Cost of Virtual Reality" Available at https://www.yahoo.com/tech/the-real-cost-of-virtual-reality-hint-it-isnt-142843538.html Diaz, Rocardo. "Augmented Reality Versus Virtual Reality: The Battle Is Real." Tech Crunch. Crunch Network (2016). Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/04/ar-vs-vr-the-battle-is-real/. "History Of Virtual Reality." ''- Virtual Reality Society''. Virtual Reality Blog (2015). Retrieved from http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/history.html. Konnikova, Maria. "Virtual Reality Gets Real." (2015, October). Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/virtual-reality-gets-real/403225/ MacManus, Richard. ReadWrite. ''"The Future of Virtual Reality Lies Beyond Gaming." (2015, January 21). Retrieved from http://readwrite.com/2016/01/21/virtual-reality-future-beyond-gaming Taylor, Harriet. "Welcome to the Future: Virtual Reality at CES." ''CNBC LLC. (2016, January 7). http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/07/welcome-to-the-future-virtual-reality-at-ces.html "VIRTUAL REALITY - History." VIRTUAL REALITY - History. Board of Trustees, University of Illinois (1995). Retrieved from http://archive.ncsa.illinois.edu/Cyberia/VETopLevels/VR.History.html. Virtual Reality. 2014. Virtual Reality. ONLINE Available at:http://www.vrs.org.uk. 27 June 2014 Retrieved from http://virtual-reality.weebly.com/pros-and-cons.html "What is Virtual Reality?: - Virtual Reality Society. Virtual Reality Blog (2015). Retrieved from http://www.vrs.org.uk/virtual-reality/what-is-virtual-reality.html